Britain has busiest roads in Europe

It’s arguably the most predictable news story of the year so far, but research by the World Bank has revealed Britain’s roads are the most congested in Europe.

According to the figures, there are 77 vehicles per kilometre of road in Britain – 76% higher than the European average. Compare that to Norway, where there are just 29 vehicles per kilometre. So now you know where to head for a driving holiday.

On Bing: see pictures of traffic congestion

Runaway ostrich causes traffic chaos

But it’s not all bad news. The figures also reveal British roads are amongst the safest in the world, with just 28 people killed per million of population. Cynics may argue that this is because we spend most of our time stationary in a queue of traffic.

Last year, we revealed that Jamaica Road in Southwark, London is the most congested street in Britain, where – at peak times – traffic crawls along at 0.08mph. That’s the equivalent to crawling at a 30th of walking pace.

Other congested roads included the Bedford Road in Clapham and Greenhill Way in Harrow. In fact, every street on the list of the top ten most gridlocked roads in Britain happened to be in London.

But as the amount of traffic continues to rise, the number of road deaths has fallen dramatically, down from 7,700 in the 1970s to less than 1,800 today. This is thanks to good road discipline and improved car safety.

However, with the way things are going, how long will it be before the entire country grinds to a halt? Just how many cars can you fit into a kilometre of road anyway?

Britain’s worst traffic jams revealed – where you’ll drive at just 0.08mph

Funny road signs from around the world

On Bing: see pictures of traffic congestion

Runaway ostrich causes traffic chaos

By motoringresearch.com